Do you wash your car regularly but find yourself not satisfied with the results? After it dries does the shine just evaporate along with the water? Fact is, your car’s paint finish is constantly under attack by road grit, UV radiation, de-icing chemicals—and the occasional errant grocery cart. The net effect of all these hazards is paint that loses its luster and appears dull. 

Most drivers know that regular oil changes are necessary to maintain the life and performance of their vehicle. For many people, changing the oil and filter every 3,000 miles is the norm, but improvements in lubrication technology have led to oils that can safely be used for longer periods of time. Simply changing your oil on a regular mileage-based schedule will go a long way in insuring that your vehicle runs well for years, but there are other ways to care for your engine internals.

Caring for your car involves more than routine washing and your regular coat of wax. One aspect that is often neglected are your tires, since it’s easy to believe that they don’t need much attention. On the surface, tire shine may appear to be a purely aesthetic product, giving your tires a nice and glossy finish that does add to the appearance of your vehicle. But more importantly, a quality tire shine is formulated to protect your tires from harmful UV rays, grime, and other contaminants on today’s roadways. As a result, regularly using tire shine will protect your tires from fading and cracking, revitalizing the rubber.

Just as you don’t get great results washing your hair with dish soap, when it comes to washing your car, you’ll be a lot happier using a proper car wash soap. Dish detergents and other household soaps are designed to remove grease, which means they will strip wax or any other protective coating from your car.

Windshield wipers aren’t exactly glamorous, but the best winter wiper blades are crucial for safe winter driving. You can get away with good all season wiper blades if you live in the deep south, but if freezing temperatures and salted or sanded roads are winter norms in your area, you need to switch over in the fall. And with the ongoing extreme storms and temperatures of the 2022-2023 winter season, we’re not sure anyone is safe from winter weather.

Tailgating season isn’t what it used to be, but that just means you need to think outside the box. Instead of a crowded parking lot, try your own driveway. Maybe a campsite or a park, where thanks to streaming services, you can still watch the game even if you aren’t at home. One thing hasn’t changed, and that’s that crowd or not, game or not, you still need the right grill to get your famous food served hot and fresh.

Shopping for engine oil can be daunting, with numerous brands and options available in today’s marketplace. How do you choose from all the different companies offering motor oil when they all sound the same? Well, truth be told, most reputable brands will offer similar products, and in the case of this list, you really can’t go wrong with any of the options. Some oils are better quality than others, offering more performance and working harder to keep your engine clean. But many would argue that the general consumer won’t even notice the difference between Quaker State or Pennzoil. In fact, there have been studies conducted that show most oil brands have similar products.

Problems with catalytic converters are one of the most common causes of check engine lights, but they’re extremely expensive to replace, so if you’re having issues, it makes sense to try one of the best catalytic converter cleaners first.

Despite recent advancements in environmentally conscious electrified vehicles, most of the cars and trucks we drive are powered by fossil fuels. While this well-proven technology still contributes to ozone-depleting pollution, automakers have made huge strides in reducing pollution levels through a variety of emissions control solutions.

Your car may have a big trunk that can swallow a lot of luggage and cargo, but it’s a big, empty area, which means that it’s not very good at organizing your stuff. Sure, some manufacturers put some kind of storage under the floor for smaller items, but for general use, it’s very hard to keep the trunk organized.

Health and safety aren’t things you want to skimp out on, so having a well-stocked first aid kit in your car should be something you’re willing to spend on.

To this day, the Honda Civic remains one of the most popular cars to accessorize and modify, with dozens of aftermarket companies offering products for the compact car. If you own a Honda Civic and want to add a little excitement to your car, you’ve come to the right place. In this article, we’ll take a look at the top 10 best Honda Civic accessories you can get your hands on, all of which are affordable and easy to install. Some of the products on our list are purely aesthetic, while orders are functional and make your Civic even more practical.

These days, we’re always on the go and living in a connected world. That means we constantly need to have our smartphone charged and on the ready. Nothing is worse than dealing with the anxiety you get when you realize your phone’s battery has just a few minutes of life left.

A clean windshield is an integral part of having a safe driving experience. Along with high-quality windshield wipers, you’ll want to make sure you’re using a proper windshield washer fluid to keep your front windshield clean in between car washes. You’re probably thinking most windshield washer fluids are all the same, but that’s hardly the case. Some formulas are so ineffective that they’re basically like water. Proper windshield washer fluids will break down dirt, dust, debris, and even bugs on your windshield for a proper wipe. For this reason, you also want to avoid refilling your reservoir with water when you run out unless you have absolutely no other option. Think of wiper fluid as a liquid detergent for your windshield.

If you have done any home plumbing repairs, you’ve probably worked with hose clamps. One of the most common types of hose clamps uses a screw and a worm gear to secure it and prevent leaks.

“^$@&%*!!!” That’s the sound of you as you drop a bolt (again) into the depths of your engine compartment, after tearing a dime-sized patch of skin off your knuckle (again). After stanching the blood with duct tape, you wonder: how do I hold onto something in a tight space firmly enough to get something else in place? I only have two hands!

We’re all trying to be safer these days, but that doesn’t mean you can’t opt for a change of scenery beyond the four walls of your humble abode. According to projections from the American Automobile Association (AAA), more than 680-million drivers will take a road trip this summer. While that accounts for fewer road-going adventures than Americans took last year at this time, down 3.3 percent, it is far more than AAA projects travelers will take by more communal means of conveyance such as airplanes and trains.

Just as there are different types of bicycles for dirt trails, urban riding, and road racing, there is a similar variety in the vehicle-mounted racks you can buy to get your bike from your home to where you want to ride it.

When it comes to measuring lumber or hanging a photo, a measuring tape or ruler is just fine, but when you need precision, you need one of the best digital calipers. Just try measuring a bolt thread pitch, or the gap in a piston ring, with your trusty tape measure and see how it plays out.

If your car’s factory audio system isn’t satisfying, you’re probably considering speaker upgrades. One of the more popular sizes of car speakers out there is 6×9, large enough to deliver quality audio, but small enough to fit in nearly any vehicle. But shopping for speakers is never an easy task, especially since there are several variables to consider. Are you planning to upgrade your factory head unit? Do you want to install an amplifier for more power?

Interested in doing your own oil change and confused by all the different oil filters available? Given their cost, oil filters may not seem all that important to your engine’s performance but that couldn’t be further from the truth. Although they’re small and affordable, oil filters play an extremely important role in how your engine performs and its life. A poor quality oil filter could potentially cause damage to your engine and that’s definitely not something you want to experience.

A charged battery is a happy battery. Keeping your car’s battery properly charged is essential to long life and reliability. When you drive, your car’s charging system keeps your battery topped up. However, if your vehicle sits for an extended period, the battery will slowly drain and discharge. A car battery left in a state of discharge can begin to deteriorate in as little as three days. This is also true for motorcycles, quads, or anything else with a rechargeable lead-acid battery. Once the voltage drops, the life of the battery drops with it.

There was a time where picking the best monitor for your PC simply came down to the size of the monitor you wanted. Nowadays however, things are a bit different, especially when you’re shopping for a gaming monitor. Along with different panels to choose from, there are several factors to consider including resolution, refresh rate, response time, and any form of adaptive sync technology (G-SYNC and FreeSync). If you’re passionate about playing racing games on your PC, you’ll want to invest into a proper gaming monitor—one that has a high refresh rate, assuming you have the video card to support it.

With Esports becoming more and more popular with each passing day, it’s no surprise to see racing simulators becoming commonplace. Professional racers all the way up to Formula 1 use racing simulators to practice their driving and to help learn tracks, and there are even professional sim racing leagues like the F1 Esports Series. With talented sim racers even being drafted into real world racing, you may want to buy yourself a wheel and pedals to get in on this exciting and relatively new hobby.

Driving around town or getting stuck in traffic with a newborn infant in your car can be stressful. If your infant starts crying for attention, that could lead to distracted driving and a potentially dangerous situation. Protect yourself and your infant by investing into a car seat toy, which can keep your baby’s attention so you can keep your eyes on the road.

There are several good reasons why you often see car mechanics wearing gloves while working on a car. For starters, cars are extremely dirty being on the road all day long. Mechanic’s gloves are designed to keep your hands clean, but also to protect them from cuts and bruises, especially since most cars are packed with sharp edges. In addition, gloves provide a better grip of your tools and can keep your hands warm if you’re working in the cold.

If you’ve ever worked on a car, you’ve likely run into a situation where a stubborn bolt or nut just won’t come loose. Sometimes, even an impact wrench won’t do the job. This is where a breaker bar is necessary. If you ever plan on maintaining your car in the comforts of your own garage, you’ll want to invest into a quality breaker bar to make quick work of rusted bolts and nuts.

It’s virtually inevitable: over the course of months and years, rust will begin to form on your car, truck, or crossover. Left unchecked, it’ll spread, expand, and eventually ruin its finish, structural integrity, and more.

There’s a real good chance the light incorporated with your garage door opener isn’t extremely bright. It’s there for safety reasons and to give adequate lighting for your garage, but if you’re doing any serious work on your vehicle, you’ll want better lighting. That’s why garage work lights exist, and there’s a variety of types and options available on the market. Today, those products benefit from LED lighting technology, which means more efficient lighting with lower power consumption and heat.

You don’t need to be a car expert to realize most factory side mirrors have blind spots. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, approximately 840,000 blind spot-related accidents occur every year. Some modern vehicles now offer blind spot detection as a safety feature, typically a light that illuminates on the side mirror if an object is in your blind spot. But maybe your vehicle doesn’t offer blind spot detection and you’re looking for a way to conveniently see what you’re missing while driving.

It’s often overlooked, but using a quality brake cleaner from time to time is a cost efficient way to ensure your brakes stay in good condition. Brake cleaners can help extend the life of your brakes by removing harmful debris, grease, oil, and other contaminants that can shorten the lifespan of your brake drums, rotors, or pads. In addition, these cleaners can often fix brake squeals by getting rid of that debris lodged in your brakes.

Want to start saving some money by changing your own oil? Most vehicles can have their oil changed from the comforts of your garage or driveway with a little bit time and labor. Some of the tools you’ll need to change your own oil include a floor jack, jack stands, oil drain pan, and an oil filter wrench. While it’s possible to take off most oil filters with your bare hands, spending a few bucks on an oil filter wrench will make your life a lot easier. Some oil filters feature a slick finish, and depending on where it’s located on your car, could be a pain to grip.

Giving your engine fresh spark plugs should be part of your car’s regularly scheduled maintenance. But you don’t necessarily have to go to the dealership or pay a mechanic to swap in a new set of plugs. Instead, get yourself an affordable spark plug socket and do it yourself in your garage or driveway.

These days, modern cars are packed with safety features and technologies intended to make our driving experience as safe as possible. Unfortunately, accidents do happen and you’ll never know when you may get in a situation where you’re stuck inside your car. It may take some time for emergency services to arrive, and anytime you’re involved in a collision, every second counts.

Smartphones have GPS to get you where you need to go, and most vehicles offer a built-in navigation system as standard or optional equipment. But plenty of older or entry-level cars on the road lack that convenience.

If you’re looking to get your car looking like it’s brand new again, you’re going to want a high quality buffing pad. Whether you’re using an orbital polisher/buffer or doing things by hand, a well-made buffing pad gets the job done quicker, easier, and with better results. There are plenty of different types of buffing pads on the market today, made from various types of materials such as microfiber, wool, and terry cloth. Sponge pads are also popular and you’ll see quite a few products on our list that are sponge pads.

Driving gloves might seem like a luxurious accessory, but you may be surprised to hear there are plenty of affordable, high quality options. You may be asking, what are the benefits of driving gloves? Are they really necessary when you’re sitting in traffic while commuting to work? Well, along with offering protection and comfort for your hands while driving, proper gloves enhance grip and control. There’s a reason why all professional drivers have a good set of driving gloves when they’re out on the track.

You’re feeling pumped as you drive to work, you’ve just finished a killer workout, and you beat your personal record for the bench press. Simultaneously you conceived the perfect close for the big presentation you’re making that morning. Life looks good.

While most modern vehicles come equipped with competent car stereos straight from the factory, there is always room for improvement. Thankfully there are hundreds of options in the aftermarket if you’re looking to upgrade your car stereo. Also known as a radio, receiver, or head unit, the car stereo is essentially the centerpiece of any car audio experience. It’s what you see and interact with, with modern units offering features such as Bluetooth hands-free calling, touchscreen displays, and streaming audio.

You’re likely aware that in order to keep your vehicle running in great shape, you’ll need to replace the spark plugs from time to time, but what about the spark plug wires? These wires are responsible for transferring high voltage pulses between the distributor and the spark plugs in order to ignite the air/fuel mixture in the corresponding combustion chamber. Some modern vehicles have distributorless ignition systems, which have the spark plug wires connecting each coil pack directly to one or more spark plugs, whereas others are of a coil-on-plug design that removes the need for wires entirely (but that’s another story).

The term “grille guard” has become a bit of a misnomer in recent years, as the product category grows beyond just simply protecting the front grille of a vehicle. Products such as bull bars, brush guards, bumper bars, and push bars have all fallen into the grille guard category as products that offer protection without looking entirely out of place. If you own a truck or SUV and are frequently taking it to job sites or off-road trails, there’s a good chance you will want to protect the front end from any accidental damage.

There’s a good chance you’ve come across or heard an impact wrench when visiting an automotive repair shop or dealership. They aren’t necessarily tools made for professionals and if you plan on doing routine work on your car, investing in an impact wrench is wise. Like other power tools, an impact wrench is designed to make your life and job a lot easier— especially challenging tasks like removing rusted-on lug nuts. More importantly, there is now a wide range of offerings from various manufacturers, including cordless impact wrenches that use batteries so you don’t have to invest in an air compressor.

Few things make at-home car-repair or garage activities more unpleasant than a freezing cold workspace—and that’s just why sales of garage heaters really heat up at this time of year (pun very much intended).

If you’re looking for a cost-effective way to pair a smartphone to a car via Bluetooth, you’ve come to the right place. Bluetooth FM transmitters are affordable and simple devices that let you stream audio from a phone to a car, along with the ability to make and answer phone calls. This allows you to connect a phone to a car’s stereo without running any extra wires or investing in more expensive Bluetooth kits.

Often overlooked and forgotten, the carpet in your car can accumulate large amounts of dirt, debris, and more, making it one of the dirtiest areas inside your cabin. While vacuuming from time to time is a good way to maintain your car’s carpet, buying and using a proper carpet cleaner is highly recommended to make sure your carpets last as long as your car.

If you’re working on your car or have it parked on an incline, the last thing you need is for it to roll away. Even if placed in park with the engine off and the parking brake engaged, there’s still a risk that it might roll away, and that has the potential to seriously injure someone and/or cause damage to its surroundings.

Photo credit: Vlad Linev / Shutterstock.com

Each day, AutoGuide.com‘s Gear Editors spend hours researching helpful products for car owners. Our goal is to determine which products are worth your time and money as we hunt for the best products available. We base our suggestions on a number of factors, including reviews, ratings, brand recognition, features, pricing, value, and more. Our ultimate goal in researching and recommending products is to help narrow down your search, and streamline your online shopping process.

Safely towing a trailer or camper isn’t as simple as hooking it up to your vehicle and going on your way. If you regularly have a trailer attached to your vehicle, there’s a good chance you’ll need to invest into a set of towing mirrors. In fact, some state laws mandate the use of trailer or towing mirrors on your vehicle to make sure you can safely see your surroundings while driving.

Portable generators have multiple uses but are common among RV owners and vehicle owners who often go camping, take long trips, or go tailgating. There are plenty of options available, spanning price ranges from extremely affordable to extremely expensive. So how do you choose the right portable generator?

Your car can be a great resource on a camping trip. Camping next to your car reduces the amount of hiking needed to get to your campgrounds and is a great way to enjoy the outdoors without complicated pre-planning. Having your car as a power source also allows you to have more amenities while camping and allows you to bring more equipment.

Every single car has valve stem caps, but let’s be honest—they’re all really boring. In fact, most cars come with the same black plastic caps that are designed to do a single job: protect your valve stem. If you always wanted to personalize your car but didn’t want to spend a lot of money, you’ve come to the right place.

Owning a portable air compressor has never been easier, with plenty of options on the market currently priced under $50. While it’s not a tool that you’ll use on a daily or even weekly basis, there are plenty of reasons to keep one around the garage—we’ll detail those later in this article. But given there are so many portable air compressors on the market, you may have a tough time choosing the right one for you.

Look, we get it. GoPro is clearly the leader when it comes to action and sports cameras. The company has built a huge reputation and following, and it’s completely natural for you to just grab a GoPro when you’re in the market for a portable action camera. But like any other product in this world, there are cheaper alternatives from overseas manufacturers that might fulfill all your needs without having to empty out your wallet.

When a car rolls off the assembly line, chances are its suspension is tuned more for comfort than performance. While some vehicles do aim to offer a sportier driving experience, automakers tend to leave room for upgrades. For the most part, suspension upgrades are some of the first and most popular upgrades made by car owners today, and a proper upgrade offers many benefits in terms of safety and performance.

Tinting your car’s windows has a lot of benefits besides adding some privacy and elegance to your vehicle’s looks. Another obvious benefit of window tint is to keep your interior nice and cool, but it also blocks out harmful UV rays, helping prevent premature wear of your interior. It can also help reduce brightness and glare while driving, reducing eye fatigue on long trips. And in extreme cases, tint can also hold glass pieces together if any of your windows shatter.

Whether you spin wrenches for a living or only occasionally handle maintenance chores on your personal vehicles, a good multimeter is a must-have tool. Multimeters are useful for household electrical work too.

Many folks have problems with the OEM (original equipment manufacturer) stereos that come with their vehicles from the factory and so they consider getting new ones. That said, with such a large variety of aftermarket car audio system types available on the market, it can be difficult to determine which car stereos can be the right one for your car.

Your car’s cabin air filter helps to filter the air that enters your vehicle through the heating and air conditioning system. Things like dirt, dust, pollen and other airborne debris get trapped in the filter so you don’t ingest them as you drive. They are particularly important for those with allergies or breathing sensitivities, as well as those who spend a great deal of time in their vehicle.

You may have heard of the Rain-X brand, which is known for its water repellent technology. But the company also offers several different windshield wiper fluids, all of which apply Rain-X technology. Below, we take a look at Rain-X’s full lineup of windshield washer fluids, explain their differences, and hopefully help guide you in choosing the right one for your vehicle.